Banded fastener devices for fastening plastic film to a new reinforcement

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to the joining of one web, e.g. of camouflage material to a carrier net or the like with the aid of fastener devices comprising male fastener parts provided with pins or like elements which are hammered into complementary holes in female fastener parts. The female and male fastener parts are banded together by means of plastic wires moulded along the sides of the fastener parts and are separated subsequent to being brought to a fastener applying position from a respective magazine. The male fastener parts are banded with the pins positioned in the direction of the band, while the holes provided in the female fastener parts face at right angles to the band direction. The bands are advanced by means of pawl-mechanisms.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 476,457,filed as PCT/SE89/00554, Oct. 10, 1989, now abandoned.

The present invention relates to fastener devices intended for fasteninga relatively weak material to a stronger material, particularly to asupporting net structure. The invention has particular application inthe manufacture of camouflage material, in which case the relativelyweak material may be an apertured or leaf-cut plastic material coatedwith camouflage paint, or alternatively may comprise loose,non-connected parts which are joined with a net length such as to form acoherent structure.

So-called camouflage nets are either joined with the aid of an adhesivepaste or glue or with the aid of special binding clips, these latterfastening means often being applied with the use of hand-held apparatus,which is a highly laborious and demanding task. The use of fasteners,however, is often preferred to gluing, for strength reasons. Acombination of fasteners and adhesive is sometimes also used.

An object of the present invention is to produce a fastener system whichwill enable strong and reliable fastening of the materials to beachieved. The fastener applied should be capable of embracing a netthread or net cord and also of achieving a firm grip around the materialaffixed to the net. In the case of camouflage structures, the fastenersshould be made of a plastic material, therewith to avoid reflection ofradar signals.

The object of the present invention and the advantages afforded therebyare achieved with banded male and female type fastener devices accordingto claim 1, these banded fasteners being produced by a method accordingto claim 6 and applied or fitted by means of an apparatus according toclaim 7.

One basic concept of the invention is that the male and female fastenerparts of the fastener devices are joined or banded separately inindividual strips or bands, in a manner to enable the male and femalefastener parts to be removed individually from their respective bandswhen fixing the fastener devices around a net thread and to the materialwhich is to be fastened to the net and which lies said thread. Accordingto one preferred embodiment, the male fastener parts comprise twooutwardly projecting pins or like elements which are pointed at theirfree ends sufficiently to enable said pins to penetrate the materialplaced on the net and which are joined by a bridge part which extendsperpendicular to the pins of said male fastener parts. The femalefastener parts preferably comprise a flat part in which two holes areprovided, the spacing between said holes being equal to the distancebetween the pins of the male fastener parts. Fastening is achieved bypressing the pins into respective holes in the female fastener parts andretaining said pins in the holes. Retention of the pins in the holes ofthe female fastener parts can be achieved with the aid of barbs or hooksformed on the pins of the male fastener parts. Alternatively, the pinsof said male fastener parts can be deformed as by riveting, subsequentto being inserted into the holes. When the male fastener part of thefastener part is made of a plastic material, riveting of the pins ofsaid male fastener parts can be effected by heat and pressure, or byabrasive deformation of the pins, or in some similar manner.

For the purpose of obtaining banded fastener devices which can bemanufactured readily in practice, which will take-up little space andwhich can be handled readily in banded form on storage rolls or reels,the male fastener parts are positioned so that their respective pinsextend in the plane of the band. Although it is possible to position theoutwardly extending pins at right angles to the direction of bandmovement, it is preferred in accordance with the invention to positionsaid pins in the direction of the band, inter alia for reasons ofmanufacture.

In the case of one preferred embodiment, the two bands are each formedaround two edge-laid wires. According to one suitable method ofmanufacture, the bands of fastener devices are produced by injectionmoulding in a mould constructed for producing a plurality of male orfemale fastener parts, wherein the two wires are drawn through the mouldand wherein, subsequent to having produced the number of male or femalefastener parts determined by the mould, the resultant bands arewithdrawn from the open mould and further lengths of the two mutuallyparallel wires are provided with respective male and female fastenerparts, said mould having a dividing plane which extends parallel to andsubstantially coincidental with the wires located in the mould.Successive moulding operations will provide, in this way, long bands offastener devices which can be rolled-up and placed on magazine bobbins.The wires are located in the immediate proximity of the edges of thebands and respective male and female fastener parts can be disengagedfrom respective bands, by drawing said fastener parts past two knives orcutting blades mounting one on each side of the wires and beingoperative to sever said wires, together with a small part of surroundingplastic. Glass-fibre filled thermoplastic injection moulding compoundsbased on, e.g., polyamide or polypropene is a suitable material for usein this connection.

The female fastener parts are positioned in the band such that the holesformed in said parts will face at right angles to the band direction andsuch that the holes will preferably form pairs of holes with aconnecting line which is perpendicular to the band direction, for bothmanufacturing and fastener-fitting reasons.

In operation, the inventive fastener-applying machine brings a male anda female fastener part located on respective sides of the combined webcombination to be joined together, to a joining station whichincorporates what can be referred to as a die and hammer, the die on theone side and the hammer on the other accommodating a female part and amale part respectively which, when disengaged from the band or whilebeing disengaged therefrom, are pressed towards one another, so that thepins on the male fastener part will penetrate said material and straddlea net thread and pass into the holes provided in the female fastenerpart, whereafter said pins are secured in said holes.

According to one preferred embodiment, the band of female fastener partsis moved to the die parallel with the direction of movement of the webcombination and the outermost female fastener part of said band isdisengaged therefrom at the location where a die is positioned. The bandof male fastener parts, however, is preferably moved with thelongitudinal axis of the band at right angles to the direction ofmovement of the web combination, with the pointed ends of the pinspointing towards the positions of the holes in the female fastener partplaced in the die.

The two bands are moved from their respective storage locations, inwhich they are stored in rolls, via slide paths or drums and aresuitably brought to respective die and hammer working positions, one byone, and therewith moved past pairs of cutting blades which free themale and female fastener parts from the edge wires holding the bandtogether.

When producing broad webs, it may be appropriate to position severalfastener applying machines more or less side-by-side centrally of thethreads of a net which is advanced in the same direction as the longdirection of the net-mesh threads in the travel direction of theweb-like net. The net is preferably caused to run over separatenet-guiding rollers of known kind having pyramidal bosses spaced evenlyaround the peripheries thereof and in the long direction of the rollers,for engagement in the open-stretched meshes of the net, wherewith themeshes are guided so that their defining threads will be located withsufficient precision at the working heads of the fastener-applyingmachine.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to anexemplifying embodiment thereof.

FIG. 1 illustrates schematically and in side view a machine formanufacturing a camouflage net structure.

FIG. 2 is a detailed side view of a fastener applying machine.

FIG. 3 is a detailed front view which illustrates the forward feed of amale fastener part according to FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 illustrates the application of a female fastener partcorresponding to FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 illustrates suitable locations of fastener devices in a machineaccording to FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 illustrates schematically and in perspective a male fastener partand a female fastener part separated from their respective bands.

FIG. 7 illustrates an actual camouflage net structure having affixedthereto a covering of leaf-cut plastic foil.

FIG. 1 illustrates a plant for the manufacture of camouflage materialcomprising a net base 1 and camouflage material 2. Although the purposeof the invention is to achieve mutual attachment of the net 1 and thematerial 2 at the location referenced 5, an overall description isnevertheless able to illustrate a significant application. Net of thekind intended is normally delivered with the meshes stretched out andpulled diagonally together, so that the net has the form of a string,and is placed in a box, such as indicated at 3. The net is thenwithdrawn from the box and opened out to form an elongated web 1. (Inpractice, the box 3 is placed on one side of the main web path and thefirst part of the net path will form an angle of 90° C. to the main netpath.)

When joining together the net and the camouflage material, it isnecessary to have full control of the meshes. This control is achievedby passing the net over a roller 4 of special configuration and of aknown kind, provided with bosses which engage and fit into the meshes ofthe net, such that the net will pass to the joining station 5 with thenet meshes fully open. Camouflage foil is drawn, at the same time, froma roll roll or reel 8 and placed on top of the net 1, at a locationimmediately prior to the location of the joining station 5. The foil maybe imperforate or leaf-cut, in a known manner. The camouflage composite6 is then removed from the joining station 5 and placed in successivefolds on a loading pallet, with the aid of means known within thetextile industry and forming no part of this invention.

The manner in which the net and camouflage foil are joined together inaccordance with the invention is illustrated in FIG. 2 and also in theenlarged views of FIGS. 3 and 4. The fastening devices themselves areshown, in principle, in FIG. 6 and comprise a male fastener part 10 anda female fastener part 12. The male fastener part has outwardlyextending pins 15 which are intended to be pressed into correspondingholes 16 formed in the female fastener parts. The pins 15 are pointedand may be provided with barbs, hooks or like elements. The femalefastener part may be provided with a slot 17, so as to enhance theelasticity or suppleness of said part.

In accordance with the invention, the male and female fastener parts arebanded separately with the aid of respective wires 11 and 13 or thelike, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 respectively. As before mentioned, thefastener devices are produced suitably by injection moulding, in whichthe wires are drawn through respective moulds constructed to produce alimited number of fastener devices with each moulding operation. Oneband of each type is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 respectively, from which itwill be seen that the pins 15 on the male fastener parts extend in theplane of the band and in its direction of movement, whereas the holesformed in the female fastener parts are positioned at right angles tothe band direction.

It will be noticed from FIGS. 3 and 4 that the bands are advancedtowards a die 40 and are there disengaged from respective wires 11 and13, with the aid of knives or cutting blades. The plane of FIG. 4 isperpendicular to the plane of FIG. 3. FIG. 3 illustrates the stage ofoperation in which a male fastener part has just been hammered into afemale fastener part and a rotating abrasive wheel 50 is in the processof grinding and deforming the ends of the pins of the male fastenerparts protruding from the female fastener parts, such as to formrivet-head like configurations.

The machine illustrated in FIG. 2 performs the working operationsdescribed with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

The banded female fastener parts are taken from the bobbin 30 and drawnover a curved guide plate 31 and up under a cover plate 39, over whichthe webs 1, 2 move, and up to a fastener-applying location left exposedby the cover plate. The banded female fastener parts are advanced bymeans of a pneumatic piston-cylinder device 35 which is operative topivot a pivotal arm 32. Mounted on the free end of the arm 32 is adogging element or pawl 33 which is spring loaded by a tension spring 34and which, in one direction of movement of the dogging element, dogs thefemale fastener parts forwards, in the manner of a ratchet pawl, towardsthe die position 40. The band is held stationary by a blade spring 36upon the return movement of the dogging element, therewith preventingthe band from being moved rearwardly by the dogging element 33 as itreturns.

The similarly banded male fastener parts 10 are drawn from a bobbin 41onto a curved guide plate 42 and from there to a feeding and fasteningmechanism. This mechanism includes a slide 43 which is driven up anddown by a hydraulic piston-cylinder device 44, and a hammer 45 which,similar to the dogging element, can pivot solely in one direction. Thedogging element/hammer 45 grips the outermost male fastener part in saidband from behind, and the male fastener part is subsequently pushedfirmly into the hammer by means of a fastener anvil 46. The anvil 46 ispivotally mounted and is acted upon by a spring means 47, and will thusbe pivoted to one side as the slide continues to move downwards. Thewires holding the male fastener part in the band are then severed withthe aid of knives (FIG. 3) so as to disengage the male fastener partfrom said band, whereafter the pins on the male fastener part are driveninto corresponding holes in the underlying female fastener part. Theends of the pins protruding from the female fastener part are thendeformed by the abrasive wheel 50, so as to secure the male and femalefastener parts together, after which the slide returns to its upperworking position. The band is held in position by a spring 48 andconsequently the pivotal dogging element/hammer will be moved to oneside and subsequent to having turned and being restored to its previousposition by spring means is able to grip a further male fastener part ina pawl-like manner and repeat the aforesaid procedure.

The piston-cylinder devices 35 and 44 are, naturally, controlled insequence, in dependence on the forward feed of the webs 1 and 2, thiscontrol being well within the ability of one skilled in this art andneed not therefore be described here.

The described machine is normally capable of applying only one row offastener devices, and although the machine may be constructed so that itcan move in the direction of the width of the webs 1,2 it is preferredto position a plurality of such machines in a manner which will enablethe whole of the web to be provided with fastener devices.

FIG. 5 illustrates one example of such positioning of fastener devicesin a so-called quincuncial configuration. The net has a width of 1.7 mand accommodates a 20 mesh width. Eleven fastener-applying machines arepositioned uniformly so that each alternate long thread in the net canbe fastened. By causing the fastener-applying machines to workrythmically in two groups and at a distance for each group in the webdirection corresponding to two mesh lengths, there is obtained a regularfastener-device structure with 36 fastener devices per square meter. Asindicated in FIG. 1, it is appropriate, in this case, to arrange theeleven machines in two rows and to activate said machinessimultaneously, while allowing the web to be advanced with an intervalof two mesh lengths between the activation of said machines. A suitablemachine speed may be 4 m/minute, resulting in the application of almost23 fastener devices per minute by each fastener-device applyingapparatus.

FIG. 7 illustrates a camouflage net structure comprising a leaf-cutcover applied to a net. Each alternate net thread, marked with arrows onthe left of the Figure, is provided with fastener devices according tothe invention. Such fastener devices 70 are indicated at the bottom ofthe Figure. The fastener devices are arranged in a quincuncialconfiguration, similar to the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 5.

I claim:
 1. Banded fastener devices for joining at least one layer ofmaterial to another, comprising a first longitudinal band of femalefastener parts, each of which includes a part having at least two holesformed therein and including means for disengaging said female fastenerparts from said first band; a second longitudinal band of male fastenerparts separate from said first band, each of said male fastener partshaving two elongated pins which are mutually spaced at a distancecorresponding to the spacing of the holes in said female fastener partsand having a configuration corresponding to the configuration of saidholes, said configuration being rectilinear, and including means fordisengaging said male fastener parts from said second band; said pinsbeing insertable in the holes in said female fastener parts so as to beretained in said holes, and said elongated pins extending in the saidsecond band in a direction which coincides substantially with thelongitudinal direction of said second band.
 2. Banded fastener devicesaccording to claim 1, characterized in that the male fastener parts andthe female fastener parts are held in respective bands by means of edgeparts which extend along the edges of said bands and from whichrespective male and female fastener parts can be disengaged.
 3. Bandedfastener devices according to claim 2, characterized in that each of thebands is formed from a plastics material.
 4. Banded fastener devicesaccording to claim 3, characterized in that said edge parts includewires around which respective male and female fastener parts are mouldedand connected by plastic material.
 5. Banded fastener devices accordingto claim 1, characterized in that the pins of respective male fastenerparts are provided with hooked configurations.